the lion and lucy

Sarah and I recently returned to Narnia, going to see Prince Caspian (on the opening day, of course, due to me being a dork). My favorite scene is between Aslan and Lucy, when she dreams of meeting him in the forest. The trees magically move to form a path, revealing him to us for the first time in the film. In the book, it goes down like this…

“Welcome, child,” he said.
“Aslan,” said Lucy, “you’re bigger.”
“That is because you are older, little one,” answered he.
“Not because you are?”
“I am not. But every year you grow, you will find me bigger.”

Lewis writes theology into every word and roar from Aslan’s mouth. I love this thought…that as we grow older and wiser, as we further feel out the edges of our intellect, God grows larger (though never older) in our eyes. At least when we see and think rightly. Even as we receive degrees declaring us ‘masters of divinity,’ we still fail to corner the mystery. This should not be frustrating, but deeply encouraging and inspiring. It is an invitation to move further up, and further in, finding a snowy wood on the other side of the wardrobe, and an entire world stretching out beyond that.

As we outgrow our bedtime stories, there is still one Story that will continue to outgrow us.